Rocky Mountain House doctor worries recent closure of emergency department won't be the last

A doctor in Rocky Mountain House, Alta., worries a recent closure of the local emergency department will not be an isolated incident.

Earlier this week, the communityhealth centre's emergency department closed for 16 hours because there wasn't anyone able to cover a shift.

"AHS exhausted all efforts to find physician coverage during this time, locally, within Central Zone, and provincially, but have not been able to find physicians to cover the ED during this time," Alberta Health Services said in a release.

Anumber of physicians were unavailable because they were self-isolating or their children were doing online schooling, according to AHS.

Rocky Mountain House family physician Dr. Ed Aasman says it's rare but he's not sure it will remain so.

"We've been actively recruiting, we're down quite a bit in our numbers," he said."We actually still have shifts coming up that haven't been filled."

He says the situation is "frightening."

AHS says it has eightdoctors in various stages of recruitment for Rocky Mountain House,starting in July.

During any temporary closures, emergencies are redirected to other hospitals in the area,including those in Sylvan Lake, Rimbey, Sundre and Red Deer.

Rocky Mountain House is not alone in struggling with a shortage of doctors.

TheFairview Health Complexemergency department was closed for a 12-hour period that ended Wednesday morning and the Elk PointHealthcare Centre emergency was closed for 24 hours starting the morning of May 13.